Pakistani court grants bail to journalist Waheed Murad

A Pakistani court on Friday granted bail to journalist Waheed Murad against a surety bond of PKR 50,000 ($178).

Murad, who works for an international news organization, was allegedly abducted by unidentified men on Wednesday before his formal arrest.

Prosecutors accused Murad of glorifying the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) through social media posts and resharing a Fact Focus report that included family photos of Pakistan’s army chief.

During Friday's hearing at the Islamabad District and Sessions Court, Judge Abbas Shah questioned the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) about the charges against the journalist.

The FIA argued that Murad shared a post alleging genocide in Balochistan, Pakistan’s southwestern province where militants have launched several deadly attacks, including holding passengers hostage on the Jaffer Express train.

Defense attorney Imaan Mazari stated: “He only quoted Akhtar Mengal’s words in his post.”

Co-counsel Hadi Ali Chattha added: “The first tweet was Akhtar Mengal’s statement.”

Mengal is a Pakistani politician and lawmaker who heads the Balochistan National Party (BNP).

After granting bail, the court dismissed a petition challenging Murad’s judicial remand.

Murad alleges violent arrest

In court on Thursday, Murad described what he said was a violent arrest at his home in Islamabad.

"I was at home with my mother-in-law, who is a cancer patient visiting from Canada, when masked men came to my house," Murad said. "They claimed to be from a local police station, saying they were looking for illegal Afghan residents. I gave them my ID card, but they broke the doors, dragged me to their vehicles, and manhandled my elderly mother-in-law."

Murad alleged that the unidentified men held him for hours before handing him over to the FIA just 20 minutes before his court appearance.

His lawyers, Mazari and Chattha, argued that Murad’s arrest followed a familiar pattern of authorities detaining journalists extrajudicially and filing cases against them under Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).

Murad describes blindfolded interrogation

Speaking informally to journalists in court, Murad said he was blindfolded when taken into custody and interrogated at an unknown location by a rotating group of 15 to 20 men.

"They asked me repeatedly who I was and what I did. They questioned me about my family, my sisters, and my mother," he said.

He also alleged that authorities took his fingerprints on blank sheets of paper without explanation.

Murad claimed he was never taken to the FIA’s Cyber Crime Center for questioning, as required.

"They only brought me to its parking lot for 10 minutes before bringing me here," he said.

Press freedom concerns grow

The incident comes just a week after the disappearance of two brothers of journalist Ahmad Noorani, Haider and Ali, who were taken from their Islamabad residence in the early hours of March 19.

Their whereabouts remain unknown, and police have not filed a case in the incident.

The growing pattern of forced disappearances of journalists and their families has sparked concern among press freedom advocates.

A Pakistani journalist association, the Press Association of Supreme Court, has written a letter to Chief Justice Yahya Afridi asking him to investigate a string of recent arrests targeting journalists.

International rights organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), have expressed alarm over the deteriorating press freedom environment in Pakistan.